Funeral Liturgies

The death of someone close to us is of course a time of great grief. But for a
Christian that grief is tempered by our hope in the life of Easter. For a Christian
death is but part of the pilgrimage of life which leads to eternal life with God. Our
parish stands ready to help its members to prepare a fitting funeral liturgy which
will be both a tribute to the person who has died and a joyful celebration of our
Easter faith and hope. In the section below you
will find an explanation of the various parts of the funeral liturgy of the Church
as well as texts to be used in the funeral liturgy to assist you if you choose to
prepare a booklet. You can simply cut and paste from the texts to help put together a
booklet which will be an appropriate celebration of faith. However please do not begin
this process until you have first met with the Parish Priest or Assistant Priest so that he can give you good
guidelines on what needs to be done in preparing the liturgy and the booklet.

The Order of Service for the funeral liturgy follows. The parts indicated in italics
are required in the Funeral Mass only. If you are preparing a liturgy which will not
include Mass then you do not need to use the sections indicated in italics.

The following is a basic
outline of a booklet indicating where the various parts outlined in the section below
would go.

INTRODUCTORY RITES:

Entrance Hymn:

(Regarding musicians and singers: if you need someone to provide the music
and/or lead the singing please speak to Maree in the parish office who will help you to organise
this).

Placing of the Symbols of Faith:

At the beginning of the liturgy we place three symbols which express our Easter faith
in the resurrection and are a sign of our hope in eternal life for the person who has
died. These symbols are deeply connected to baptism and are a sign of our hope that the
life in God which began at the time of baptism is now complete and full in eternal life
for the person who has died. These symbols are:

the lighting of the Easter Candle as a sign of hope which sheds its light over the
celebration;

the placing of the large white pall over the coffin (often done by members of the
family) as a sign of the white garment of baptism returning to clothe us at the time of
our death;

the sprinkling with holy water, a reminder of the waters of baptism.

If you are preparing a booklet we would ask that you include the text in the link
below so that the congregation may join in the responses as each symbol is placed.

After the placing of the symbols of faith some families choose to also place some
personal symbols which speak of the person who has died and of their life. If you choose
to do this please bear in mind that there should be not too many symbols, but rather
just a few which speak powerfully of the qualities of the person who has died. It is
also important to remember that the symbols chosen should be appropriate for the
liturgical context in which the celebration is occurring.

Collect:

The celebrant then prays the collect (chosen by the Celebrant).

LITURGY OF THE WORD:

Readings:

We then sit for our readings from Scripture. There may be three readings: the First
Reading from the Old Testament (but from the New Testament during the Season of Easter);
then the Responsorial Psalm; then the Second Reading, chosen from the New Testament:
and finally the Gospel (which is preceded by the short Gospel Acclamation). If you
prefer you may have only two readings as follows: a First Reading chosen from either
the Old or New Testament (though once again it must be from the New Testament during
the Season of Easter), followed by the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation and then
the Gospel.

The various choices for the Scripture readings may be found by clicking on the link
below:

Homily:

The celebrant then gives the homily.

Prayers of the Faithful:

After the homily we have the Prayers of the Faithful, prayers of intercession for our
needs at this time. You might like to select one or more people to read these prayers.
Two different selections of possible prayers for inclusion in this part of the liturgy
can be found by clicking on the links below.

If the liturgy that your planning does not involve the celebration of Mass then you
would now move to the section on the ‘Eulogy’ below. If you are planning a Requiem Mass
then you need also to consider the material in italics below.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Hymn for the Dedication of the Gifts:

It is customary, though by no means required to have a hymn at this point in the
Mass as the gifts of bread and wine are brought forward to the altar.

Prayer over the Offerings (chosen by the Celebrant)

At this
point of the Mass there would also be a procession in which the bread and wine are
brought forward to the altar. You might like to choose members of the family or friends
to take on this role.

The Eucharistic Prayer then follows. At the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer
we begin the Communion Rite. You may wish to choose some music or a hymn during the time
of distribution of Holy Communion.

Communion and Thanksgiving Hymns:

You may choose to have a hymn during the distribution of Holy Communion and also
at the time of Thanksgiving after Communion. Once again it is certainly not required
that there be a hymn at either of these points but it is quite customary to have a
hymn at least at one of these points in the Mass. Otherwise quiet music might be
appropriate.

Prayer After Communion:

After everyone has received Holy Communion the celebrant prays the Prayer After
Communion.

Eulogy

You may wish to have a friend or member of the family give a short eulogy in tribute
to the person who has died. We are very happy for this to be included at this part of
the Mass. If the liturgy does not include Mass this would come immediately after the
Prayers of the Faithful.

Normally there would be one eulogy but a maximum of two is possible. We would ask
that the total length of time devoted to the eulogy(ies) would be no more than ten
minutes. This is a most important consideration. While it is important that there is an
appropriate tribute to the person who has died it should be borne in mind that those
at this funeral liturgy have gathered at a time of grief and an overly long period
devoted to the eulogy can have a negative contribution to the liturgy whereby it can
become somewhat overwhelming and burdensome to those who have gathered in grief.
Please ensure that those who are going to give the eulogy have been given clear
guidelines on the appropriate length of time.

Final Commendation and Farewell

The liturgy in the church concludes with the Final Commendation and Farewell. If
you wish to include this in your booklet the text of this part of the liturgy can
be found by clicking on the link below.

Recessional Hymn

As the procession leaves the church it is customary to have either a hymn or music.